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Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the presidential election now includes the Democratic-leaning Podesta Group.

The group is led by Tony Podesta, the brother of Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta.

Mueller is looking at the group’s dealings with a Ukrainian-linked firm, NBC reports.

The focus on the Podesta Group stems from Mueller’s investigation of Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman.

NBC wrote:

Manafort had organized a public relations campaign for a non-profit called the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine (ECMU). Podesta’s company was one of many firms that worked on the campaign, which promoted Ukraine’s image in the West.

The sources said the investigation into Podesta and his company began as more of a fact-finding mission about the ECMU and Manafort’s role in the campaign, but has now morphed into a criminal inquiry into whether the firm violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA.

Under FARA, people who lobby on behalf of foreign governments, leaders or political parties must file detailed disclosures about their spending and activities with the Justice Department. Willful failure to file the forms is a felony and can result in up to five years in prison, though such prosecutions are rare.

The Podesta Group filed a FARA registration for its work with ECMU only after the payments were reported by the media. Manafort’s firm also filed a FARA registration after media reports in June disclosed its work in Ukraine from 2012 through 2014.

At the G-20 summit in Germany, President Trump claimed “everyone here is talking about” how Democrats handled cyberattacks during last year’s presidential election.

It’s unclear why leaders of the world’s wealthiest and developing countries would be caught up in old election news at a gathering designed to promote international financial stability. What’s more likely is that Trump is trying to divert attention away from a very active investigation into whether his campaign conspired with Russia to meddle in the election.

In a tweet Friday morning, Trump claimed “everyone is talking about why John Podesta refused to give the DNC server to the FBI and the CIA. Disgraceful!”

On Thursday, Trump used the international stage to slam America’s intelligence agencies, the Democratic National Committee, the media, Russia and former President Obama.

Everyone here is talking about why John Podesta refused to give the DNC server to the FBI and the CIA. Disgraceful!

Former Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta claimed Monday that “forces within the FBI” worked against the Democratic presidential nominee.

“There are at least forces within the FBI that wanted her to lose,” Podesta said in a taped NewCo. Shift discussion with John Heilemann.

“I’m not sure they really understood the alternative, but they wanted her to lose. I think that’s one possibility.”

Still, Pedesta offered no new evidence to back up his claim. He said FBI Director James Comey used “bad judgment” by notifying Congress just 11 days before the election that the FBI was reviewing emails that may have been related to Clinton’s use a private email server.

Comey “ended up dropping this bombshell in the middle of the election against the advice of the Justice Department, against the long-term practice of Democratic and Republican administrations,” Podesta said.

He added: “If you look at the polling at that period time, that’s when the race began to tighten in that week.”

John Pedesta, a top aide to Hillary Clinton, said the FBI’s response to Russia tampering with the presidential election reveals a “deep broken” bureau.

“The more we learn about the Russian plot to sabotage Hillary Clinton’s campaign and elect Donald Trump, and the failure of the FBI to adequately respond, the more shocking it gets,” Podesta wrote in a Washington Post op-ed Thursday.

“As the former chair of the Clinton campaign and a direct target of Russian hacking, I understand just how serious this is. So I was surprised to read in the New York Times that when the FBI discovered the Russian attack in September 2015, it failed to send even a single agent to warn senior Democratic National Committee (DNC) officials,” he wrote.

“What takes this from baffling to downright infuriating is that at nearly the exact same time that no one at the FBI could be bothered to drive 10 minutes to raise the alarm at DNC headquarters, two agents accompanied by attorneys from the Justice Department were in Denver visiting a tech firm that had helped maintain Clinton’s email server.”

“Comparing the FBI’s massive response to the overblown email scandal with the seemingly lackadaisical response to the very real Russian plot to subvert a national election shows that something is deeply broken at the FBI,” Podesta added.

Podestà said Congress should investigate Russian meddling in the election.

“The election is over and the damage is done, but the threat from Russia and other potential aggressors remains urgent and demands a serious and sustained response. Congress should authorize a far-reaching, bipartisan independent investigation modeled on the 9/11 commission,” he wrote.

A top Justice Department official tipped off Hillary Clinton’s campaign about new developments in the investigation over her email use as a secretary of state, according to hacked emails by WikiLeaks.

Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik provided a “heads up” in an email to Clinton campaign chairman John Pedesta, Politico reports.

The email came from Kadzik’s personal account, which was titled “Heads up.”

“There is a [House Judiciary Committee] oversight hearing today where the head of our Civil Division will testify. Likely to get questions on State Department emails. Another filing in the FOIA case went in last night or will go in this am that indicates it will be awhile (2016) before the State Department posts the emails.”

Pedestal passed on the emails to top Clinton aides, saying, “Additional chances for mischief.”

The FBI suspects what Democrats have been saying for weeks: Russian intelligence agencies hacked the emails of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman and a contractor handling Florida voter data, the Wall Street Journal reports.

And now top Russian officials are no longer denying the country was involved in a separate attack of the Democratic National Convention. President Vladimir Putin, for example, said it’s irrelevant who hacked the computer records.

“Everyone is saying, ‘Who did it?’” Mr. Putin said at an investor forum in Moscow. “But does it matter that much? It’s what’s inside the information that matters.”

Just weeks before the election, the FBI has uncovered numerous political targets for hackers.

Clinton’ campaign chairman, John Pedesta, also suggested Russian intelligence agencies are behind the hacks of his emails.

“This level of meddling by a foreign power can only be aimed at boosting Donald Trump and should send chills down the spine of all Americans, regardless of political party,’’ accusing Trump of “continuing to side with the Russians.”

“I’ve been involved in politics for nearly five decades, and this definitely is the first campaign that I’ve been involved with in which I’ve had to tangle with Russian intelligence agencies, who seem to be doing everything they can on behalf of our opponent,” Podesta told reporters.

Pedestal said the FBI told him on Sunday that his email hack is part of a wider investigation into potential Russian cyberattacks.

“Russian interference in this election and apparently on behalf of [Donald] Trump is, I think, of the utmost concern to all Americans, whether you’re a Democrat or independent or Republican,” Podesta said.